Singer Britney Spears attends the announcement of her new residency, "Britney: Domination" at Park MGM on October 18, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In early January, Spears announced that both her residency and new album are on hold as her father recovers from a life-threatening illness.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Britney Spears delays album release amid father’s health struggles

By

Ann Smajstrla, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

LAS VEGAS —

Pop singer Britney Spears is delaying the release of her new album to be with her father as he recovers from an illness that nearly took his life, according to reports.

The news comes about two weeks after Spears announced her “Domination” residency shows at the Park MGM in Las Vegas would be delayed for the same reason. Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, had to be hospitalized in November after his colon spontaneously ruptured, E! News reported.

“Everything is on hold right now until Jamie is better. But once he is, she will resume working on the album with (producer) Justin (Tranter). Right now, she’s taking some time off to deal with these family issues,” Spears’ manager, Larry Rudolph, told Variety.

No release date for the album had officially been set. The “Domination” residency was scheduled to begin Feb. 17.

Spears’ creative directors for Domination, Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo (known together as “Nappytabs”), wrote on social media that the work hiatus could take six months to a year.

Spears initially announced her work hiatus Jan. 4.

“I’ve been looking forward to this show and seeing all of you this year, so doing this breaks my heart,” the singer wrote on social media. “I had to make the difficult decision to put my full focus and energy on my family at this time. I hope you all can understand.”

Spears’ father reportedly has a long road to recovery ahead of him, but is expected to be OK.